Thousands more passengers face disruption on Friday as American Airlines continues to check its MD-80 aircraft for wiring problems.

In the fourth day of cancellations, American said it would have to ground 570 flights, taking the total for the week to more than 3,000.

By Friday morning, 170 of its fleet of 300 affected planes should be back to service, the company said.

US airlines have been ordered to check the wiring on all MD-80 aircraft.

Alaska Airlines, Midwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines also had to cancel flights using MD-80 planes on Thursday for safety checks.

American Airlines axed about 1,000 flights on Thursday and Wednesday, and 460 on Tuesday.

The US's biggest airline said customers could apply for a refund or use the value of their ticket towards another flight.

Customers scheduled to travel on any MD-80 flights until 13 April can switch onto any other available American flight as long as they travel before 17 April, the company said.
Makes me glad I'm not flying anytime soon.

I'm a walk kind of guy fly ain't my thing

More than 3,000 flights have been cancelled as the airline has been forced to ground its MD-80 aircraft for wiring inspections.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been clamping down on inspections and several airlines have grounded planes.

American Airlines has apologised to customers and offered refunds and compensation to those affected.
Full responsibility

American grounded all 300 of its mid-range MD-80 aircraft on Tuesday to inspect the wiring in the wheel wells.

It has been gradually returning them to service since then.

The airline's chief executive has taken full responsibility for the groundings and will hire a consultant to help it comply with Federal Aviation Authority safety rules in future.

He said that the groundings will cost the airline tens of millions of dollars.

The FAA has been tightening up its inspections since admitting that it was too lax with Southwest Airlines last year.

The US House of Representatives' Transportation Committee discovered that fuselage cracks on Southwest planes had gone undetected due to missed inspections.

Not sure if this makes me feel better or not.